Community psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the community, rather than the individual, as its primary unit of study, examining how social systems, organizations and neighborhoods shape well-being and favoring prevention and systemic change over treating individuals one at a time. It grew out of the post-war community mental health movement and crystallized as a distinct field at the 1965 Swampscott Conference.
Facts
Disputed
Key DebateWhether empowerment, the field's own central organizing concept, is coherent enough to guide research and practice. Riger (1993) argued empowerment is built on a masculine, individualistic model of agency that sits awkwardly with community psychology's own emphasis on collective, relational well-being, while Guy Holmes criticized it as a vague concept that, following Wolf Wolfensberger, carries more rhetorical appeal than analytic precision. 1 Two named critics dispute the field's central concept from different directions; the disagreement is not resolved in the source. Central QuestionHow do social systems, communities and institutions shape individual well-being, and how can psychology intervene at the level of the community rather than only the individual? 1 Connections
Associated With
Influential community psychology theorist, known for empowerment theory.
Coined psychological sense of community, a founding concept of the field.
Includes
Source Wikipedia: Julian Rappaport
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Community Psychology
Wikimedia FoundationLead section; History, Swampscott Conference
Community psychology is concerned with the community as the unit of study. This contrasts with most psychology, which focuses on the individual. ... In 1965, several psychologists met to discuss the future of community mental health as well as discuss the issue of only being involved with problems of mental health instead of the community as a whole. The Swampscott Conference is considered the birthplace of community psychology.
Critiques section
Riger (1993) pointed out the paradoxical nature of empowerment being a masculine, individualistic construct being used in community research
Wikipedia: Julian Rappaport
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Julian Rappaport, Biography section (welfare crisis era)Quote, Includes: Julian Rappaport, Biography section (welfare crisis era)
From 1977 he worked in the field of community psychology and social psychiatry in the context of the U.S. welfare crisis.
Dissenting Readings (2 dissenting readings)
Key Debate
Riger (1993) argues empowerment, community psychology's own central organizing concept, rests on a masculine, individualistic model of agency, one built around an individual actor gaining control or mastery, that sits in tension with the field's own stated commitment to collective, relational well-being; using an individualist construct to describe communities is, on this reading, a paradox the field has not resolved rather than a settled synthesis.
A dissenting reading, from S. RigerWikipedia: Community Psychology, Wikimedia Foundation
Key Debate
Guy Holmes argues empowerment lacks a clear, stable definition at all, applying to Wolf Wolfensberger's phrase "high craze value": a term that spreads because it is fashionable, not because researchers and practitioners share a working meaning for it, so different users of the word may not be describing the same thing when they invoke it.
A dissenting reading, from Guy HolmesWikipedia: Community Psychology, Wikimedia Foundation
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